


They've Got Soil in Their Bones

by Alienea, Juan_Pujol_Garcia, octovoid128, Sinna



Series: The Inherent Romanticism of Dragons [15]
Category: The Mechanisms (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Dragons, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Found Family, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Multi, Other, Sickfic, Trans Male Character
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-18
Updated: 2020-08-15
Packaged: 2021-03-05 04:55:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 10,794
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25368733
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Alienea/pseuds/Alienea, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Juan_Pujol_Garcia/pseuds/Juan_Pujol_Garcia, https://archiveofourown.org/users/octovoid128/pseuds/octovoid128, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sinna/pseuds/Sinna
Summary: Dragons can handle most threats, but illness is not one of them. Fortunately, Ashes knows someone who can.Or, a not-so-new friend's visit sparks some overdue conversations.
Relationships: The Mechanisms Ensemble/The Mechanisms Ensemble
Series: The Inherent Romanticism of Dragons [15]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1832185
Comments: 24
Kudos: 132





	1. Chapter 1

It’s the cold that wakes Ashes. Or rather, the lack thereof. Ivy always feels cool to them, although both she and Marius insist that it’s a normal body temperature to humans. This morning, however, she’s almost as warm as another dragon. They frown and attempt to nudge her awake.

"Ivy? Ivy!" Something is wrong. They can hear Marius clattering around, so it’s not that it’s too early. Ivy is usually sleepily protesting at this point, not completely unconscious. After several increasingly frantic attempts to wake her, they run into the kitchen. "Marius! Something's wrong with Ivy!"

Marius puts down his breakfast preparations immediately and rushes into Ivy's room. He kneels down next to her. "Ivy?" She doesn’t respond, just shivers faintly. Marius places a hand on her forehead and frowns. "She's got a fever."

"Fever?"

"Her body temperature is higher than normal. We should try to cool her down a little..."

Ashes frowns. "Will that help?"

"A bit. There are some herbal remedies and things I can use to try to help…” Marius takes in their expression and sighs. “A lot of the cure is just. Water, bedrest, and hope."

"She's going to be fine," Ashes insists, a bit desperately. They refuse to consider the alternative. "Herbal remedies? I know someone who can help with that."

"If you can get them in a reasonable amount of time, go for it. Just let me get some cool washcloths first, then I’ll stay with her."

Ashes fidgets anxiously until Marius returns. Then they race for the emergency contact stone Raphaella set up last time she visited. They activate the rune.

It seems like an eternity before Ashes hears the quiet chime that indicates a successful connection. “Raphaella?”

"Ashes? What's gone wrong?" Raphaella sounds incredibly confused. Ashes supposes they haven’t exactly been the best at keeping in touch...or maybe she’s surprised that they actually had an emergency situation. It’s certainly new to them. They don’t like it.

Ashes attempts to sound authoritative, not panicked. "I need you here. Now. Ivy's sick."

"Ivy? Am I preparing human or dragon remedies, Ashes?" Ashes hears confused people in the background, almost drowned out by the sounds of rapid packing. She must have been in the middle of a job.

"...Human. She's human." Ashes manages to calm down enough to realize that Raphaella has not actually met their mate yet.

"Okay! I will prepare my human remedies, then. I'll probably take, oh, a day? Assuming I don't run into any weather. Lucky timing!" The clattering stops, so she must be ready already. Witches do tend to travel light. "Make sure she's drinking, ideally water, and if you can get her to keep down broths, that's a good start. Hydration and nutrition! I'll be there soon, I was only a few days out from dropping by anyway.”

"Please hurry."

"Will do." There's a sound of beating wings, and then silence. Ashes takes a moment to compose themself, then returns to Ivy’s bedside.

-

Raph is taking this opportunity to try out a new blend of herbs meant to give her energy. The current attempt includes an interesting bean that she really has been meaning to cultivate, and, well, it's working! It's morning now and she's still flying and (mostly) lucid. Ashes' home comes into sight, and Raph drops in through one of the top tunnels, waving hello to her wards and promising she'll be back to give them scritches. She ping-pongs down the tunnels and towards where she knows Ashes keeps human rooms and starts to look for this Human Ivy. Who Ashes is presumably caring for, which she really wants to ask about later! And also looking for Ashes, in case Ivy is somewhere else.

Raphaella emerges from the ceiling into the more human-suited area of the lair and promptly almost crashes into someone. It’s a very surprised man, holding a tray with water and broth. Must be another friend of Ashes’s, then! They have been quite busy. She has so many questions...for later. Medicine first. Which does require finding the patient. Better get on that.

"Whoops! Sorry, sorry," Raph squints at him. "You don't look like an Ivy. I'm looking for Ivy? Ashes asked for help? Sorry, I've been up for - a while! Flew a lot to get here."

The man looks utterly baffled. "I am. Not Ivy, no." He squints at her. "Aren't you the gender transing witch?"

Raph tilts her head to the side and looks at him more closely. Faces, faces, she sees so many faces..."Oh! Yes, I did do that for you, didn't I! How are you doing? I cannot give you a refund, your tits have already gone to a good home." She thinks for a second. "And you haven't paid yet. Which is fine. Do you know where Ivy is?"

"I can take you to her." He gestures with his head and continues walking. "I'm doing well. I'm glad my tits have been rehomed, I do Not want them back. I'm working on the repayment, got slightly sidetracked by people trying to kill me for a barony I am not technically the actual heir to."

Raph falls in next to him. "Sounds interesting! I will have to ask about the full story once I have seen what I can do about an unspecified illness and also slept. I'm definitely going to sleep a lot in about 3 hours." Raphaella has gotten very good at knowing Exactly when her energy will run out. Trial and error will do that for you.

"Ah. okay." He nods at one of the doors. "She's through here, would you mind opening the door?"

"Sure!" Raph opens the door and gestures him in. "Sorry to hear about the people trying to kill you bit, by the way! Happens to me. Always a pain."

Ashes looks up when the door opens. "Raph! You're here! I need you to fix her!" They’re in human shape, clinging to the hand of someone unconscious on the bed. The room is way less dusty than Raph expected - it actually looks lived in! Fascinating.

Mysterious Not-Ivy Friend brings in the tray and sets it on the bedside table. "Yeah, it sucks ass but I'm. Pretty used to it." He responds to her earlier condolences.

"Hey, Ashes!" Raph moves over to presumably-Ivy and starts checking her temperature and pupil dilation with a light spell. "Making friends, huh?" Raph rummages around in her pockets and starts pulling out herbs and a mortar and pestle. "Does anyone know the symptoms beyond fever?"

"Fatigue, nausea, headache. Joint and muscle pains,” Ashes reports dutifully.

Ivy stirs when Raph shines the light in her eye. Which is good! Even though she is not happy to be woken up, grumbling something incoherent in a language Raph certainly doesn’t recognize. Ivy blinks hazily up at her, apparently zoned out, then speaks. "Oh, 's you. Wards. Why'd they got so many legs?"

Raph leans in. "Oh, fascinating. You can identify magic users by their magic and see the wards? I'll tell you why they have so many legs when you're more likely to remember, then." She squints. Her hands still as she notices something Very Wrong. "Would you say you often have headaches? Or anyone else, would you say she often has headaches?"

"Not that I'm aware of? She hasn't mentioned it." Okay. So Ashes doesn’t know. Which is...not good, because now Raphaella has to tell them. She resumes grinding the willow bark and tries to figure out the best way to break the news. Especially because she can see threads of Hoard magic woven around Ivy and the other person. Raph knows Ashes would not purposefully harm her, but dragons tend to take threats to what’s Theirs...poorly.

Ivy nods automatically to the question about Sight and winces with visible regret. "'s the vibes. Feels the same."

"Huh. Alright. Well, if she's not having headaches most of the time..." Raph frowns. "Ashes, if you're going to breathe fire, don't do it on me. Wings are flammable. Can you promise that before I mention something? If she's been fine this long it's unlikely to be time-sensitive."

Ashes gives her a very worried look. "I promise I won't breathe fire on you. Why?"

Mystery-Friend edges away from Raphaella to the other side of the bedroom. "Please don't set me on fire either."

Raph pulls out a clear, empty glass bottle, a glass bottle of honey, and a glass bottle of water. She dumps a portion of the ground herbs in, followed by the portion of honey, and then holds out the bottle of water to Ashes. "Boil this, please, I'm making her a tincture for the pain and fever and people tend to like their honeywater warm." She takes a deep breath. Welp, if you can’t make the process easy you can at least make it quick! "Your Ivy here has a pretty nasty curse going on!"

" **_What_ **?!" The water boils instantly as it receives the full brunt of Ashes’s rage.

"Y'can see that?" Huh. Is it a good sign or bad that Ivy knew and Ashes didn’t? That is a problem for future Raph.

"She has a _what_?" Raph decides that the confused man across the room is also for future Raph to deal with. She’s not in the best position to fix his bafflement right now.

Raph slips on a heat proof glove and takes the bottle back, before dumping enough water into the other bottle to make a good sized mug's worth of this concoction. She starts shaking it, triggering a slight glow over her hands. She’s made this remedy often enough that she doesn’t bother using any words to channel the magic, instead addressing Ivy. "Yeah, I can see it. Not looking deeper at it, right now. Something with memory, if I had to guess."

"Good eye. Or...not eye? Perc'ption."

"Ivy, why didn't you mention this?" Ashes sounds...distraught. Which is presumably better than angry? But it doesn’t suit them.

She tilts her head to the side, looking at them. "'s't relevant?"

"We could have got it fixed ages ago." ...Raph is flattered by their faith in her! She really is! But. Not that simple, unfortunately.

Ivy frowns. "No. Would've asked."

"Ehhhhh." Raph waggles her free hand side to side and waits for the concoction to cool down. "It's a pretty strong one. We can talk about the curse when she's more lucid, though.

Ashes fixes Ivy with a stern glare. "We _will_ talk about this later." Ivy groans and tries to pull the blankets over her head.

Topic change, topic change… ”Good job with the soup, by the way..." Raphaella squints at the ceiling. It’ll come to her. "...Marius?"

"Yes, that is my name. Thank you.” 

"Fuck yeah! I wasn't sure if it was Marius or Gavroche. Took a chance. Glad it worked out." Raph chills the bottle a bit. She imbues the bottle with magic so it won’t spill, and the potion with a little bit of extra healing, and holds it out to Ivy. "Okay. Ivy, if you can please drink this, and then the soup, we'll let you get back to sleep."

Ivy emerges from her blanket nest to drink, then attempts to retreat under the covers.

"Hey, no." Raph pokes the lump of Ivy. "The soup." She waves a hand over it, giving it the same sippy cup magic, and hands it over.

Ivy takes the soup. Ashes sits next to her and helps her with it, as Ivy sleepily leans against them. Marius returns from the far corner, sits on the edge of the bed, and does his best to be comforting. It’s all very sweet and domestic. Raphaella suppresses a pang of jealousy. Inappropriate and unhelpful! Wow, she really does need to sleep.

"Okay. I'm going to pass out soon because I haven't slept since you called, Ashes. S'there a free room? I can take a couch." Raph yawns. "I'll mix up two more bottles of the stuff, she can have one every 6 hours, and then I'll want to re-evaluate." She gets out more glass bottles and starts mixing, using the remaining hot water.

Ashes takes a moment to refocus on Raph. "There's another room with a bed, I think. Here, I'll show you." They are visibly reluctant to move.

"You can take my bed, the next room over,” Marius volunteers. “Sheets are clean. I'll stay here."

"Uh. I don't care either way. I mean, clean sheets sound nice, and if you don't mind maybe getting hit by wings we can just share." Raph heaves a sigh. "Or I can get rid of them for the night."

"My room is probably less dusty.”

"Alright. S'long as you're fine sharing, I'm not gonna make you sleep here and possibly get infected also." Raph shrugs. "I do a lot of sleeping rough. I'll be fine on a couch, even."

"I don't mind. Certainly wouldn't be my first time sleeping beside someone I hardly know."

"Alright. Is it even- I think it's morning? Maybe I will take a nap so I don't fuck up my non-existent sleep schedule. Whatever." Raph stands and yawns, wings stretching wide behind her. "Flying's energy-intensive. Gonna nap. Welcome to join me if you need a nap. Ashes, you can stick with Ivy since I doubt it's human-dragon transmissible."

"Can I talk to you first?" Ashes asks quietly.

"Mmm? Sure. Alone? Hallway?" Raph picks up her bags.

"Yeah." Ashes leads her out into the hallway.

Raph places a hand on the door and whispers a spell. "Alright. We're soundproofed. What's up? I do also have a thing to tell you about who did the curse."

Ashes sighs deeply. "That's what I wanted to ask you about. She's cursed?"

"Yeah. I don't know a lot about the specifics? I wasn't going to unpack all the tools I needed to get deep into that. But she's definitely cursed.” Raph winces. And now for the worst part. "...specifically. Cursed by Carmilla. I recognize the magical signature."

Ashes lets out a stream of fire in the direction of the wall. "You're certain?"

"Regrettably, yes. When she's better, I can try to look more into the curse, but only if Ivy wants me to," Raph says firmly. "It's her choice. Uh. I guess I also wanted to ask about how you figured out you could take human hoard members, but probably after I've slept."

"Why wouldn't she want you to?" Ashes asks. "And yeah, the hoard thing just kind of... happened..."

"I don't know why she wouldn't want me to. But, for example, I have witches get all up in my business for choosing to stick in a half-form instead of just human all the time. So I'm not going to assume. But. Huh, just happened? No, I'll ask later, if I get started we'll be here ages."

Ashes nods. "We will have a long conversation. But... later."

Raph forcibly cuts off the conversation because if she keeps on talking she's going to start asking if Ashes would want to have her because having a home would be really nice and she absolutely cannot handle that discussion and rejection while sleep-deprived. "Alright." She pulls her magic back from the door. "Which room's Marius's? Gonna pass out."

Ashes points to a door. "Sleep well, _ffenics_."

Raph gives a thumbs up and heads into the room. Hopefully she’ll remember to ask about the nickname in the morning. She reluctantly shapeshifts fully human again, in case Marius comes in to nap as well. She collapses onto the bed with a thump and is asleep in moments.


	2. Chapter 2

A list of things Marius knows about Raphaella: Witch, old friend of Ashes, and, apparently, very cuddly in her sleep. Marius wakes up to a surprisingly clingy bedmate. He carefully extricates himself from Raphaella. She whines at the loss of her human pillow, but doesn’t wake up. Marius stifles the urge to coo over this adorable behavior - he doesn’t know her and refuses to be creepy about some normal everyday platonic bed sharing - and heads to the kitchen.

On his way towards Ivy’s room, meal in hand, the door opens and a half-asleep Raphaella emerges. Marius studies her for a moment, then deems her conscious enough to be trusted with food. He offers her one of the bowls of stew on the tray. "Good morning. Mind opening Ivy's door for me again?"

“M’n? Oh! Sure.” Raphaella takes the bowl with one hand and goes and opens Ivy’s door. She looks oddly small with her wings shifted away. “Thanks for the food. And lending me your bed.”

"No problem,” Marius assures her with a grin. “Food is a specialty of mine. And I don't mind sharing my bed. Used to it."

Raphaella yawns. “Yeah, well, if you like having a bed alone then I’m sorry I temporarily stole that from you. If you don’t then I guess it’s fine.” Marius shrugs and smiles because he did not mind and in fact has...kind of missed having someone at his side. Fuck he wishes Lyf were here.

Raphaella wanders over to the bed, where Ivy is asleep with her head in Ashes’s lap. They gently nudge her awake as Raphaella approaches. “Hey, it’s time to eat again,” Raph tells her, getting an incoherent grumbling in response. “It’s important to feed yourself when you’re sick, even if it’s hard.”

Ivy blearily sits up and accepts food, leaning against Ashes for support. Glancing at them for permission, Raphaella sits down on the bed and starts eating. Marius settles next to them and digs in as well. Ashes watches them eat with concern, visibly relaxing as the meal progresses without incident. Marius gives them a reassuring smile when they make eye contact and is rewarded with the faintest of smirks.

Eventually, Ivy turns to Raphaella. "I don't believe we were introduced?" Her voice is a bit raspy, but better than Marius expected given how sick she was yesterday. 

“Ah! Yes. Raphaella La Cognizi. Maker of Ashes’ wards, as you noticed, but I do a fair range of spells and magic. Mostly experimental! Nice to meet you.” Raph goes back to devouring her food. 

"Ivy, Ashes's archivist."

"Oh, are we using titles? I'm Ivy's babysitter." Marius grins at her teasingly.

"Resident human expert," Ashes corrects.

“Well, technically my last name is just made up because I thought it fit, so. It’s sort of like a title.” Raphaella grins. “How are you feeling?”

"Much better, thank you,” Ivy responds, entwining her fingers with Ashes’s.

“That’s good. If you’re still achey or feverish and it’s been six hours you can have another heated honeyherbwater.” Raphaella frowns. “Really need a better name for that…”

"Thank you for helping. Even as the resident human expert, I don't really have any medical training." Marius has exactly enough medical experience to know that most so-called “doctors” are full of shit, but there’s a pretty big gap between knowing that leeches do more harm than good and actually knowing how to help someone.

"I can show you where the medical books are. If you want,” Ivy offers. She coughs and frowns. “Maybe not today, though..." 

"You don't have to," Ashes tells Marius. "But I would appreciate it."

"'Course. I don't mind. First aid is useful to know." And there’s probably no better place to learn it.

“I can help with the first aid bits. If you go any further than that, not so much.” Raphaella shrugs. “I mostly know how to do it magically. So you learning it not-magically is a good idea.”

"I mean doctors around here are usually shite so magic is generally the more reliable option,” Marius points out. “It’s just also way more expensive."

"I have a lot of books though. From all different places. Might actually be some decent medical information in there." Ashes seems so personally offended at the concept of their books containing inaccuracies that Marius has to smile. They’re adorable.

"I mean, there  _ are _ reasonable doctors out there! I meet them very occasionally. Very occasionally. It's possible, if you travel enough. But anyway. How're you doing, Ivy?" Raph takes Ivy's empty bowl, stacks it with her own, and puts them both back on the tray. "Doing... okay? Good enough for me to ask questions?"

Ivy sighs in resignation. “I believe so, yes.”

"Mmmm. Can I. Ask about what's up with the curse? Are you well enough for that?"

Ivy considers for a moment. "Yes. What specific question do you have?"

Raphaella shrugs, shifting her wings back in a smooth motion. She holds them in tight against her back. Marius studies her, but can’t tell whether it’s nerves or limited space. "I haven't actually taken a look at it- something to do with your head, and I think, memory? Do you want me to look into breaking it? Or figuring out the parameters of it?"

“Ivy Alexandria, you will forget yourself and be reduced to nothing but a blank slate," Ivy recites emotionlessly. "No offense intended, but I don't think I'll be asking for your help with it. It's been a decade, I have a solid grasp on the parameters and there's no way to break it without functionally killing the person I am right now."

"Huh. Fair. It's up to you, after all." Raphaella is quiet for a moment. "Oh. You wanted to know why the ward cats have so many legs. That's just what they wanted. So I did it for them."

Ivy cuddles closer to a very tense Ashes, attempting silent reassurance. "Interesting."

"Generally works better to work with what your ward wants, so. Eight-legged cats! I can make 'em visible for you two if you want to see," Raphaella says to Marius and Ashes. "So. Glad you're doing better, I guess I should get started on the ward refresh?"

"I would like to see. And yeah, ward refresh is probably a good idea."

Marius blinks, finally processing part of Ivy’s statement. A very disturbing part. "Wait, you've been cursed for a decade? How old are you, you look younger than me. Did someone curse you when you were like a tween? Who does that?"

"Ah, no. I was the same age that I appear to be now. I've been with Ashes for the past decade, and Hoard doesn't age."

Marius blinks again. That...has some implications. Implications he is definitely not up to analyzing. "Oh. Okay."

"Hey. Wait a moment, back that up, do we know how that works?" Raphaella is squinting at something in the air. Presumably looking at magic.

Ivy gives her a confused look. “I. Assume the same way all hoard things work? Old Magic?”

“Yeah, but- well, I don’t think anyone knew it could apply to living things. Or at least if they did they weren’t sharing.” Raphaella is still looking at..something. “That’s fascinating.”

Ivy shrugs. “Why wouldn’t it?”

“Well. Fair point. Witch magic doing it isn’t an understood phenomenon either, so as long as you’re happy.” Marius frowns slightly at Raphaella’s words, examining her more carefully. She does look around the same age as when they last met, years ago. Huh. Witches.

“And I am.” Ivy curls closer to Ashes.

“So what made you try out living hoard, Ashes?” Raphaella refocuses on them, blatantly curious.

"It wasn't really a plan. It just sort of happened." Ashes shrugs. "I didn't know I could hoard living things either, but then Ivy came around and, well, here we are."

“Huh. Alright. New information! I like it.” Raphaella sounds Yearning a bit. Marius has to admit he relates! “Well. I’ll go and check the wards, then.” She stands up.

"Tell them I say hello?” Ivy asks, audibly drowsy. “They were very polite, when I arrived." 

"You never told me about the wards," Ashes remarks.

"Not much to tell? I introduced myself when I arrived, and they let me in apparently without bothering you."

“I’ll tell them,” Raphaella assures Ivy. “And I’ll give them more of a choice on being visible. They didn’t mind before, but if you’re gonna see them I might as well.”

"I would like to see the wards...." Marius knows very little of magic - unlike apparently everyone else in the room, hello inferiority complex my old friend - but eight-legged cats sound very interesting.

Raphaella takes Marius’s hand. “C’mon, I’ll show you.” She picks up the tray of empty dishes. “...after we deal with these.”

Marius maybe thinks Raphaella is very pretty and blushes a little when she takes his hand. He waves at Ashes and Ivy before following her out of the room.

-

  
  


Raph stretches her wings out as they leave the kitchen and turns to Marius. "Ahh. Wing space again. Wanna go outside to look at the wards, or inside?"

"Mmm, outside sounds nice."

Raph takes Marius's hand again and heads outside. She is simply. Seeking human contact. That’s all. "Outside it is then! They're cool, the wards. Do you know anything about magic?"

"Not much."

"Do you. Want to know? About magic?" Raph is on the verge of infodumping and trying very hard to hold it back. Going off with no indication that someone is interested is rude! She will not be rude.

He grins at her. "Hell yeah I do."

Raph leads Marius down the path a ways to the edge of Ashes’s territory. “So, magic! Magic is weird and complicated, and seems to have a lot of variations which I’ve been trying to study but it’s kind of a mess. I’m a witch, a subset of magically gifted...humans? Close enough to human. Definitely not fae. But witches are distinctive for two things. One, shapeshifting! All witches have an innate bird form that - I mean, you still need to be taught it, but it comes naturally. The second one is aging. When we get to...hmm. How old do I look? That age, more or less. It just stops. Pretty convenient, not needing to worry about dying of old age...You don’t need to be a witch to learn magic from one, if you have the talent. The inverse is also true, but way less common! The Council assigns teachers and frowns on that. Strongly.” She sighs. “Anyway. Wards are a subset of defensive magic, the...second-most common or so? Amulets seem to be more prevalent, but it’s unclear to what extent they rely on the inherent power of the symbols or materials versus being charged or powered up by a magic user. So that’s debatable! Wards, unlike amulets, aren’t a physical object. Wards are someone imbuing magic into an area, defining that area, and what should happen to the beings inside of it. Like here- I just piggybacked on the area Ashes had defined as ‘Hoard’ and made it more capable of defenses. And they just wanted to look like weird cat-sea creatures!”

As Raph talks, she starts reaching out energy to the wards, The octokittens begin to congregate around them, becoming visible as she feeds them magic. She turns to Marius with a bright smile.

Marius holds his hand out to the mass, eyes wide. "Oh my goodness... baby..."

The octokittens are happy to get pets and rub against Marius. Raph can feel their approval of him clearly. "Yeah! So. These are the wards. They're about as smart as actual cats, and smarter when it comes to very specific hoard-related things. I mainly boost Ashes' natural dragon magic to let them set off specific alerts, read visitor intent, and stuff like that."

"Wait. So they knew when I snuck in here to try to save Ivy?"

"Yup! Which is why they didn’t bug you. Good intentions, not going to steal. Wouldn't've let you leave if you had stolen, but." Raph is giving the octokittens scritches and magic boosts. She may have created them, but that doesn’t mean she can’t find them adorable!

Marius winces. "Yeah, I just...thought she was kidnapped."

"Honestly, couldn't imagine Ashes having the patience to handle taking care of a human that they'd kidnapped.” Wait. That’s probably not the right thing to take issue with. “Or picture them kidnapping someone. Pain in the ass. But I get it. Glad it worked out!"

"Me too. Although I am kind of stuck here..."

Raph... probably didn’t hear that right. "Do you. Not want to be here?"

"I mean, I don't mind it. It's actually kind of...nicer here than where I'm from.” Marius shrugs, focusing on the octokitten oozing over his hands.

"Oh. Well. Glad that worked out. Let me know if you want any magic done. I do it for free for Ashes' people! Ashes pays me. Technically." Raph deems the octokittens sufficiently fed for now. She cuts off the flow of magic to them before she drains herself to the point of exhaustion.

"Yeah. It's only for a year anyway."

Raph blinks slowly. Marius is...only going to be Hoard for a year? She should probably ask Ashes about this. "Huh. What're you doing? Human expert, you said? Fancy. Why aren't you sticking around?"

His expression grows wistful. "I have someone I have to get back to."

"Well. They'd probably be welcome." Raph shrugs, and sits down to bask in the sun. "Just saying. It's a good set-up."

Marius sits back next to her. "They have...commitments..."

"Alright." Raph yawns. Might’ve miscalculated her energy levels...but the octokittens are just too cute to resist. "Mm. Should've kept some more magic back. Oh well! I can sleep tonight. Get on some form of a sleep schedule."

"Sleep is important.”

"Ehhhhhh. Sleep's like. I mean, you need it, but do you  _ really _ need to keep on a schedule? The schedule is in your heart. And different for different people! Despite turning into a bird I tend to be more nocturnal." Raph grins. "S'not bad, it's just different."

"Fair enough,” Marius concedes, looking extremely skeptical.

There’s simply no call for that side-eye. Clearly, Raph needs to elaborate. "Also, I'm developing potions that give you energy! So I will have to sleep less. Should be very exciting."

"Oh that's pretty sick." Marius nods. "I could always use one of those."

"Well! If I get them working I will let you know." Raph frowns. "The main problem is cultivation. Since I don't have a home to have a garden in."

"Ivy has a garden here.” Marius waves down the path, where Raph can actually see a rather distinctive patch off to the side. “You could always just ask to stay? You're probably valuable enough to be considered Hoard."

Raph has so many questions about this, but apparently Marius is not the person to ask. "Does - I don't know if they even  _ want _ more human hoard.” She goes quiet for a moment, contemplating. “I. Guess I could ask. Just- don't want to get rejected, you know?"

Marius nods in understanding. "Fair enough, but you're useful to them. I don't really see why they wouldn't want to keep you around full time, just in case."

"I mean. You appear to be useful to them. I'm sure they'd keep you, if you asked. And didn't have your friend going on."

"I told them not to try to come save me." Marius sighs."But I miss them."

"I mean. As long as they're not trying to kill Ashes...I'm sure they could visit."

"Maybe."

Raph didn’t mean to make him sad. Redirection would probably be good… "Well. If they want to. I can do them a fireproofing spell." Offering a favor! That’s something one does for friends, right?

"That would be nice."

"Sure, then. If they want to visit, I'll fireproof them for the duration." Raph stands up and stretches. "Alright! So. I should check on Ivy again, and then...well, I'm free, since I need to recharge magic. Want to dig into the first aid books, after?"

"Sure, that sounds great."

"Cool! Then we will do that." Raph pats him on the back and heads off to check on Ivy.

-

Raph doesn’t see Ivy at first, as most of the room is full of sleeping dragon. She shifts fully into bird shape to get through the door, switching back to human on a sufficiently large patch of floor. Ivy is absorbed in a book and completely oblivious to Raph’s struggles, curled against Ashes’s side under a wing. Raph suppresses her yearning and clears her throat, waving when Ivy glances up.

"Hey," Raph whispers, "How are you doing? You should be able to take another concoction now, if you're still not feeling great."

“I would appreciate one, yes.”

Raph heads to the bedside table and starts heating one up with magic. She shakes it to stir everything together. "So. Uhm. Pretty neat of you to become Hoard! Did you...have to do anything specific to make that happen?"

Ivy takes a moment to consider. "I'm...actually not sure? I noticed Ashes’s growth from claiming Marius - we, ah. Have not told him about that yet. Due to him planning to leave - but I didn't see anything similar for myself..." She trails off, lost in thought. "I just talked your wards into letting me in and then started working."

"Huh. Yeah, I wondered, since he mentioned leaving but I can see he's Hoard." Raph folds her arms and starts tapping her fingers. "Well. What did you say to the wards?"

"...oh. It's. The phrasing was somewhat awkward, you know how they speak, but. I introduced myself as an archivist with no intentions to steal, and they asked me if I planned to, and I quote, "Makehome? Become clowderfamilyhoard?"” Raph is impressed by her ability to imitate the octokittens with a straight face. It’s cute! Aaand this is not a helpful train of thought, so she cuts that off immediately to refocus on the conversation. “And I agreed that such was my goal."

"Hah. Yeah, that would do it! Ashes might not have actually made you hoard consciously, but these wards are a very boosted and tweaked version of what most dragons, including Ashes, can do naturally. So. When you told the wards you wanted to be hoard, they made you hoard.” Raph shrugs. “Probably. I suppose. When Ashes wakes up I'll ask them if they grew randomly around when you actually first talked to the wards."

"They may not remember? They didn't actually realize I was around for seventy-three days, so I guess it depends on how noticeable the growth would have been. They seemed surprised when I pointed out the effects of Marius as well."

"Well, it’s worth asking.” Raph hesitates, but there’s no real reason not to ask…”Is there a plan to break the news to Marius?"

"...no. There isn't. We don't - he has someone waiting for him, we wouldn't want to pressure him to stay." Ivy sighs.

Raph frowns. "That sucks." She is. Not brave enough to venture into the realm of could I join when Ashes and Ivy already have a potential loss on the horizon...She can offer some companionship, though. "Well. I can stick around longer? Ashes'll probably want more stuff done if there's people living here."

Ivy smiles up at her. "That would be nice. I'd like to have the chance to get to know you."

Before Raph has to figure out how to respond to that, Ashes stirs. They twist slightly to face her, nuzzling against Ivy’s side. "Hello, Raphaella."

"Hey, Ashes. I was just offering to stick around longer than I normally do, since I'm sure you'd like a bit of extra magic, what with having people living here, now." Raph wiggles her fingers and smiles.

"That would be convenient," Ashes agrees.

Raph blinks, hastily constructed arguments derailed, then grins. "Alright! I will, then. I'll probably need your help getting all the reagents, but as long as you can do that I should be able to put together anything you'd like."

Ivy gives Ashes a look that Raph cannot begin to decipher, but is clearly more of a Look. Hopefully that’s nothing ominous. She turns back to Raph. "Would you like me to explain the organizational system, so you can make sense of the library? Or I could show you - I'm feeling much better, don't make that face," she tells Ashes.

"I have a good supply system," Ashes assures Raph with - eagerness? Are they excited to have her around? That’s a change...one she thinks she likes. They turn their attention to Ivy. "I'm coming with you if you insist on getting out of bed."

"I expected nothing less."

"Oh, good! Let me know what you want and I'll put together a list. And Ivy- I was just going to go help Marius get started on first aid today anyways- I'll need a proper night's sleep of recovery before I start on anything else." Raph gently pushes Ivy a bit down into bed. "Just tell me where to find that, and when you're feeling better you can show me around."

Ivy pouts, but doesn't argue. “Turn left at the instrument room, fourth aisle down. Marius should be there already.”

"I can set up a space for you in one of the empty rooms. Just tell me what you'd need for what you'd consider a fully stocked workshop." Ashes curls tighter around Ivy, pleased.

"I - you don't have to go  _ that _ far, it's kind of a lot, I haven't really been able to set one up, since, you know, traveling, I wouldn't want you to have to deal with all of that," Raph is rambling, why can’t she stop rambling, "I- it's a very generous offer, I just. It's a lot," she says, weakly. "I don't want you to regret it."

"I wouldn't regret it."

Raph flushes at the absolute certainty in their tone. "I'm kind of a pain to deal with for long periods of time, so. Maybe wait and see if I get annoying after more than a few days until you say that. I'll - get you a list of. What I would need for a basic set-up so I can get stuff done for you." She stands up. "And I'll, uh. Get going! Help Marius with first aid stuff." Aaa she forgot the exit is still mostly blocked! Raph gives Ashes a pleading look

Ashes grins at her and moves their tail out of the way. Raph, still flushed and flustered, heads out the door.


	3. Chapter 3

Raphaella is vaguely wandering around the hoard. She's got hours to kill before she can do anything with her current potions, Ivy’s almost fully recovered and Ashes has monitoring her under control anyway...and she's been meaning to track down Marius for a while. He probably understands that she's not bothered about the fact he technically owes her a debt, but. She should still probably get that on record with him! Best to avoid any potential misunderstandings. Especially as he’s part of Ashes' hoard, it's not like there's even a benefit to it like taking him back from the fae. So. She'll find him one of these breaks. (It feels weird to talk about it around the others. She doesn't like outing people, and being vague won't help.)

Raph peeks into the kitchen and sees him. He’s alone, doesn’t seem super busy, perfect timing! "Marius! How're you doing? Want any help?"

"Oh, hey Raph! I'm okay, just doing a little dusting."

Raph enters the kitchen fully. "Oh. Alright. I do have built in featherdusters! But I actually did just want to talk to you. If you've, uh, if now's a good time?"

"Oh. Yeah, sure, I'm free." Marius visibly tenses, but keeps smiling. It’s even impressively close to convincing.

Raph moves to try and help with dusting, careful to not get into his personal space just yet. "Well, I just wanted to actually explicitly like, say this. But. It's, uh, been a while, and we've both been with Ashes, and we've gotten to actually know each other a bit although I would like to do more, and I just wanted to let you know that I'm forgiving your debt? There's no real benefit to keeping it around, I did the cost-benefit analysis but basically you're my friend now and I don't like having debts between friends."

Marius blinks, obviously surprised. "Oh.... thank you... I mean... wow, thank you so much." He is a little emotional and - is he tearing up? Whoops.

Raph tilts her head like a vaguely confused bird. Further clarification needed, apparently? "I mean. Yeah? I thought about keeping it just in case fae or something, but Ashes, so." Raph shrugs, as this needs no further explanation. "No debt. And- there won't be charges, if you, you know, need or want anything. I make things for my friends because I like to make things."

"Thank you so much." Marius repeats, voice wavering slightly. "Can I hug you? I just have no other good way to thank you other than saying it a million times"

Raph nods and opens her arms for a hug. "Yeah! Yeah, you can hug me, I like hugs. You don't have to thank me. If you really want to, I accept thanks in the form of you telling me if you need something. I've got a ton of magic-enhanced pain-relief salve if you ever feel sore or something, for instance."

"Alright. Deal." Marius smiles and hugs her tight. He gives excellent hugs. Raph had predicted as much, based on his musculature and general build, but it’s always nice to have a hypothesis confirmed.

Raph hugs back just as tight! "Great. Just wanted to make sure you knew that I had, since I didn't explicitly say it and I didn't want you wondering if I was going to appear around a corner and be like 'hey got my money yet' like some sort of cryptid."

Marius laughs. "I appreciate it. I was kind of wondering that when you said you wanted to talk."

"Oh!" Raph laughs as well. "Yeah, okay, I can see that. I just, you know. Didn't want to talk about it in front of the others, and I haven't been free when you're free. Glad I caught you now. Do you want help with the dusting? I really don't have anything to do for a while, I'm waiting to hit the minimum steeping time for some potions."

"If you want to, I'd welcome the help."

"Yeah!" Raph starts helping Marius tidy and dust. She hums happily while she works. Marius hums along in harmony, which does. A lot of things! To her bird emotions and instincts.

Raph is simply. Too bi for this! She mentally casts around for anything with which to change the situation. "I'm gonna fly. You ever flown?" It feels like a dumb question to ask a human, but if he’s been around Ashes for long enough, surely they’ve gone flying?

"No. It sounds really cool though."

"It is! You want to fly? Like, not with shapeshifting- but I've got a spell that doesn't take a lot of energy, basically makes sure you can't fall."

Marius looks at her with wide eyes. “Seriously?”

“Yeah!” Raph takes off her various bags - a good witch is always prepared - and puts them on the kitchen table before holding out a hand to Marius. “It’s pretty simple, actually! You just piggyback, I apply the spell, and you’re good to fly!”

"Hell yeah, let's do it. " Marius is now beaming at her. It’s. Very cute. This may have actually been counterproductive to controlling emotions, but she isn’t going to rescind the offer now.

They quickly head outside. Raph spreads her wings and looks up. The winds around Ashes’s mountain are as excellent as always. "Pretty good thermals. Should be able to do a standing takeoff with you. Climb on?"

Marius obeys her directions and holds her tight. Raph wraps the spell around him and then bursts into the air, launching herself upwards for a few wingbeats before finding a thermal and beginning to glide. Marius whoops, laughing.

Raph flies around for a bit, mostly enjoying the thermals and not really doing fancy flying because what if Marius gets motion sickness? She doesn't know. She should’ve asked, because aaahhhhh she really wants to show off for him, but there’s always next time! Hopefully. It’s not easy to talk over the wind, but his noises seem to be on the pleased and enthusiastic side of breathless.

Eventually, Raph circles into a perfect landing. She peels her magic away from Marius. After a moment, she feels his weight shift off of her back to the ground. When he lets go, she turns to face him, grinning. “Did you like it?”

“That was _incredible_.” Marius flails around a bit, clearly struggling for words.

“Good!” Aaahhh he’s adorable. Fuck.

“I just - thank you?” Marius sinks into an excellent courtly bow - in the Asgardian style, if she’s not mistaken, what _has_ he been up to? No wonder it took her so long to place him as that boy from Aufhocker - and takes her hand. He kisses the back of her hand, lips lingering a second longer than is strictly polite. He immediately jerks back upright, blushing intensely. “That - was that too much, I”m -”

“No, it’s - you’re good! Very good. I don’t mind, actually I - extremely positive here!” Wait. Has someone waiting for him. Raph needs to extricate herself from this situation immediately, this atmosphere is not conducive to Actual Communication. “I - need to go! Potions! Could be boiling over! I’ll see you around Marius ok bye!” She beams at him briefly before transforming and bolting back towards the lab.

-

Ivy is making her way downhill to check on the garden when she sees an unusual shadow on the ground. She shields her eyes from the sun and looks up to see - Raphaella, apparently. She’s clearly a very skilled flyer. Ivy hesitates for a moment, then waves.

The wave is apparently all the invitation Raphaella needs to circle down and land next to her. "Ivy! How're you doing?" She grins at Ivy.

"I'm doing well. Feeling much better, so. Thank you.”

Raphaella waves her off. “All part of the job! And also a favor for a friend, so. Oh, that reminds me. Why are the beehives so far from the garden?”

Ivy glances over her shoulder at the hives in question, well out of earshot by now. “The garden requires more active maintenance than the hives do, and Ashes prefers to be with me when I’m working on it. They don’t really - the bees get weird around them? I’m not sure if it’s a dragon thing in general, or because Ashes is red, or something else, but the bees seem to find them. Distracting. Hence, a bit of distance. It doesn’t appear to keep them from finding the plants, so it’s just the easiest way to arrange things.” 

Raph has been wondering something, and Ivy seems the person to ask. Or at least, the person who might know.

“Ivy? Do you know, mm. Well. Is Marius- and whoever’s waiting for him- polyamorous?”

“I don’t know about Marius’s person, but he definitely seems to be. Although, that’s kind of etymologically unclear, do you mean sex or feelings? Because the former Marius is most determinedly so, but I am unsure what’s going on with the latter.” Ivy pauses, then amends her statement. “Although he doesn’t seem to know either. So that’s not solely on me.”

Raph blinks. That was a lot of information and it’s more than she expected to get but also does not entirely help here.

“Okay. I just. He kissed me on the hand and I bolted because I didn’t want to fuck anything up if he was, you know. Not. I guess I’ll have to ask him about the feelings bit, I’m…I wouldn’t want to just have sex without feelings. I’m bad at that, and it wouldn’t be fair to him.” She sighs. “So.”

“Yes, you will probably need to ask. Apparently these matters require direct conversation. And...emotional vulnerability.” Ivy can’t quite keep her discomfort with the concept out of her voice. Raph looks similarly uncomfortable.

“Well. So, how about you and Ashes, then?” She flushes. “Are you two, uhm. Also? Polyam?”

Oh dear. More emotions. “I - believe so? It’s not a label that we’ve discussed explicitly, so I cannot say for certain, but that appears to be an accurate description. Based on. Behavior, and past conversations, and. Suchlike.”

Raph nods and settles in. She now has all the information she needs to massively fuck up and then fly away and only come back to refresh the wards and never talk to anyone ever again. But she is going to wait and not do that immediately because she’s still got to refresh the wards. So she just settles in next to Ivy to enjoy the day.

Ivy casts around for a change of topic and falls back onto the basics of polite conversation. “How are you? It looked like you were having fun up there."

“I was! Ashes has some great thermals around this mountain. Like I showed Marius, it’s enough that I can do a standing start while carrying another person.” Raphaella flexes her wings a bit.

"You can? That must take some pretty significant muscle strength." Ivy is very entranced by the wing flexing, however minor. She forcibly refocuses on Raphaella’s face. Observation indicates that most people prefer that.

“It’s a bit of muscle, and, to be honest, a bit of cheating by being a witch.” Raphaella’s smile grows sheepish. “We can already bend the laws of physics. I do it a bit more to carry a passenger.”

“Impressive magical finesse, then.” Ivy studies her.

“Thank you! Have you ever been flying? I’m sure Ashes would take you - has taken you?”

“They have, yes. But it seems like that would feel very different from the way you fly...”

“Oh, probably. Do you want to find out?” Raph flushes a bit. “I, uh. You’d piggyback on me and I’d use a bit of magic to make sure you wouldn’t fall.”

Ivy can feel herself also blushing, but she gives Raphaella a bright smile. "I would very much like that, if you're willing."

“I- yeah! It’s a good time for it. Uh, hop on?” Raphaella spreads her wings to make it easy for Ivy.

Ivy climbs onto her back and holds on tight. She feels the magic she knows intimately from the wards wrap around her, and relaxes into its familiar safety. 

Raphaella takes off in flight, quickly climbing in altitude. “Want to see the village like this?”

"Yes, I would. It's beautiful up here..."

"I think so!" Raphaella starts heading to the village and points out the neat things about being in the air. Some of this, like the wind currents, Ivy cannot actually see. This is no reason for her to make Raphaella stop pointing them out. Ivy listens intently and reciprocates with information about the village and local area.

The conversation ebbs and flows as Raphaella pauses for breath. Flying appears to be a far more energy-intensive activity for her than it is for Ashes. Ivy doesn't mind the irregular pace. It is a very pleasant time.

Raphaella spirals back down and around the mountain, dropping Ivy off in the garden again. "You've probably still got stuff to do, huh?" She yawns. "And I have a nap to take."

"Yes. That was...very nice. Thank you, Raphaella. I really enjoyed it."

Raphaella grins at Ivy. "Great! We'll have to do it again. And just Raph is fine." Raph looks down for a moment, and then appears to make a decision. "I would like to stay out for a bit longer- do you mind if I nap out here?"

"Not at all. It's a lovely day." Ivy smiles back at her.

"Thank you!" Raph shifts into a pigeon and flutters over to a rock close to Ivy, where she tucks up a leg and tucks back her head and quickly goes to sleep.

That is fucking adorable. Ivy continually glances at her as she continues her work. When she finishes, Ivy sits on the grass to maybe take a nap of her own.

No one can prove anything if Raph wakes up, sees Ivy is napping, and moves to nestle in next to her head. No one except Ivy, if she wakes up. Which she does not. So Raph simply continues to stay nestled next to her head. Maybe she coos, a little. Ivy looks very cute, and she deserves her naps, though, so Raph does not give into the bird urge to start singing.

Raph transforms back partway into the afternoon to give Ivy shade with a wing. She is not sure if hoard magic protects from sunburn. It seems likely, given that's sort of like fire, but better to be safe than sorry.

Eventually, Ivy stirs. She blinks sleepily at Raph. "...thank you for the shade."

Raph nods. "Yeah! I didn't know if you could sunburn, but you can still dehydrate! And you were just sick, so that’s extra important. Actually, we should probably both get water, or Marius might yell at us. He...is pretty good human babysitter."

Ivy nods. "He is indeed." She stands, stretching.

Raph holds out her hand. "Kitchen, then?"

Ivy blushes and takes her hand. "Yes."

Raph blushes when Ivy takes her hand, and guides her to the kitchen. Ivy...definitely already knows the way, Raph realizes belatedly, but she follows willingly regardless.

Raph gets them both water. She is vaguely functional and manages that without dying. She then proceeds to chug about three glasses of water which is probably not sexy but is self-care because she is literally and metaphorically thirsty.

Ivy seems slightly bemused by the intensity of Raph’s water consumption but does also hydrate herself when handed water, so Raph is counting that as a win!

"I should... probably. Work on some stuff in my workshop. Uhm. Is there a spell-thing you'd like?"

Ivy hums. "Not that I can think of, but I'll let you know? Actually - is there anything you want me to add to the garden?"

"Oh! I've got these beans I'm trying to cultivate." Raphaella digs around in her sleeves and takes out a small woven grass bag. Ivy looks inside to find a handful of tiny, strange beans. "I don't really know what they need, though, so I've been trying them in pots in a few different conditions. If you do figure it out, let me know?"

Ivy takes the bag. "I'll do my best."

"Thank you, Ivy!" Raph swoops in, gives her a peck on the cheek, and then, with a very red face, says "OkayI'mgoingtogonowthankyousorrybye" and swoops right out of the kitchen.

-

Raphaella gets like this, some nights, but this is the first time it's happened in a bit. Flying all day and all night had taken a lot out of her, and that energy debt took a while to pay off. But now, apparently, she is awake enough to do things like wake up at what she's sure is an ungodly hour of the night, filled with energy, and pad out into the hallways looking for something to do. Normally, she's doing this on the road, or somewhere where she's set up a small temporary workshop. This is the first time she's gotten this burst of energy with a - somewhat better setup. She's not going to think permanent yet. Ashes might not really want her. So she pads down the hallway towards her workshop, having left Marius undisturbed in his sleep. She's got an idea! And she's going to at least get it started.

Raph has an Idea for a climate-control setup that would be absolutely wonderful for comfort levels, and also keep unexpected humidity from ruining her potions. She races all around her workshop, testing out ideas and configurations, grabbing things and then other things and overall just. Bristling with excessive energy. She is completely absorbed for...a while! Quite a while. She doesn’t know how long it is, but eventually she’s interrupted by the sound of someone clearing their throat.

Raph jumps and whirls around to see Ashes watching her from the doorway. "Oh! Ashes. Did- did I wake you up? Sorry, sorry, I- get like this, sometimes, just," she's waving her hands around, "need to do something, lots of energy in the middle of the night, I can- if I woke you up I can go, maybe do some night flying?"

Ashes laughs. "You're fine. I was awake anyway. I don't keep to human hours for sleep and wakefulness."

"Oh. Okay." Raph relaxes, a bit. "I just had an idea, and the energy, and had to get up and do something with it. It's, uh, going to first of all- you know how air can feel wet? Or really dry? I had an idea for a rune that could draw out excess water or put water back into the air, and, well, if I combined it with a heating or a cooling rune, it could be really neat."

"Oh, that does sound useful." Ashes nods approvingly. “I have a pretty wide temperature tolerance, but Ivy complains sometimes.”

"I- oh. Thanks." Raph had been drawing herself together to defend the idea, so she isn’t actually prepared for Ashes to compliment it. "Thanks. I'm going to have to test it, obviously, but, uh, winters can be really dry, so water in the air is important."

"I'll take your word for it." They pause, then ask, “Is it like dust? One of those...human health things?”

"Yeah, and obviously not near the books or anything. Probably just in rooms." Raph stands over her prototype, fidgeting with the paper it's drawn on. "You... really don't mind? Or think it's stupid, or- anything like that?"

"If it's useful, then it's good," Ashes says with a shrug. "I have a collection of prototype inventions and inventors' journals, if you'd like to take a look? Ivy archived them a few years ago."

"I- oh. Yes, please." Raph's voice is very wistful. She attempts with dubious success to force that down. "Very much yes please. I love things like that."

"I can show you now, or we can wait for some other time if you're busy with your own inventing."

"Oh, I would _love_ to see them now, I can come back to this." Raph sticks the paper on a desk and moves next to Ashes. "You have definitely got my interest."

Ashes is in an excellent mood as they quickly lead Raph back to the inventions corner. They may or may not have been thinking about showing Raph ever since Ivy set it up. You can't prove anything.

Raph flits around excitedly, hovering over the delicate prototypes and darting from one to another. Ashes sits back and watches her fondly. Eventually, she turns back to them. "You... really don't mind that I'm up, and I come up with random ideas, and- all of me?"

Ashes is genuinely confused. "Why would I mind?"

Raph shrugs. "People do. They don't want to know a witch is actually working in the witching hours, or if you are then you should at _least_ be coming up with good ideas, or- there's a lot. It's fine. It's fine, as long as you don't mind. You- said I could stay. Is that- is that still true?"

Ashes thinks that all sounds ridiculous, but if no one is going to appreciate Raphaella, they sure as hell will. "Of course you can stay."

"Then. I'd like to. Do I... have to do anything official? No, Ivy didn't, so probably just saying that I intend to stay with you is enough?" Raphaella shrugs. "Whatever. Thank you. Thank you, a- a lot."

Ashes reaches out to hug her.

Raph hugs back, wings wrapping around Ashes. After a moment, she starts crying. "I'm happy," she manages to get out, "it's just. I can feel the Hoard magic around me, and. I didn't- I was okay traveling, and I thought I'd do that forever, and a _home_ is a lot and. Thank you."

Ashes holds her tight. They know exactly what she means. "I didn't even realize how lonely I was until she came along."

Raph nods, tears still soaking into Ashes' shoulder. "I. Yeah. And. Having a family. S'big thing. Wanted to make sure you were- you would really- I'm glad."

"I want you, Raphaella," Ashes assures her. "I'll always want you. If I had known that I could Hoard people, before -"

Raph just tightens her hug on Ashes and whispers her thanks again. Ashes feels the energy drain out of her. Witch Zoomy Hours are Over. Which means..."Bedtime?"

"Mmm. Yeah, back to bed." Raph yawns. "Happens. Have a lot of energy for a bit and then I crash."

Ashes scoops Raph up. "I can carry you."

Raph peeps in surprise and then relaxes. "Oh. Okay. That's- that's very nice."

Ashes carries her to her room and plops her down on the bed. "Mind if I sleep in here?"

"Of course not. I- well. I have very much enjoyed getting to cuddle at night. It. Feels nice. Knowing I have people near." Raph makes grabby-hands up at Ashes to get them to come and cuddle. Ashes obligingly does so, draping themself over Raph, claiming her as theirs. Raph moves a wing over Ashes as a blanket - oh, it’s so nice to have someone else who understands the importance of wings for hugs - and then very quickly falls asleep. Ashes curls around her and sleeps.

-

Ashes is asleep on one of their favorite piles of gold, but they wake when they hear Raphaella call their name. They pinpoint her position and glide to land in front of her. They note the two bags strapped to her and suppress a twinge of panic. It’s much less than she normally travels with. Maybe it doesn't mean anything. "You're leaving?"

"Mmm, I do have jobs. Well, I've just got the one more to hit up this year, I usually block out a lot of time for refreshing your wards." Raph leans against Ashes. "I should only take a week. If it takes longer, I'll use the new emergency communication ward."

Ashes frowns. They never- they _won't_ trap anyone here. And yet... "You'll come back?"

"Yeah!" Raph tries to hug Ashes but her arms are not big enough. Getting her wings in on the hug helps, so she gives them a wing hug. "I'll come back. If I don't come back in a week _and_ I haven't contacted you, well, I'm a witch, I can handle myself, but I can give Ivy the directions to the village I'm going to, and she'll remember, and you can come check."

Ashes shrinks down to their human form, but keeps the wings so they can return the wing hug. "I'll know if you're in danger. I'll come for you."

"Oh. That's useful!" Raph smiles against them, pressing closer. "I'm leaving most of my stuff here, anyways, just bringing what I'll need for the job and my emergency bag in case someone needs help."

"If you ever do want to leave for real, tell me. I'll let you go." The words are so hard to say, but they're so important, so Ashes forces them out of their throat.

Raph pats Ashes on the back. "I don't imagine I will. Uhm. It's not like other witches really _like_ how I'm constantly in half-form and - well. I'm not going to abandon people who looked at me and said we want you to stay. I like all of you, and you're great, and I want to stay."

"The other witches can fuck off. You're amazing. I'll always have a home for you. For as long as you want it."

Raph is just beginning to believe this, and accept it, and hoard magic definitely lets Ashes know how much Raph feels about that statement. "Thank you, Ashes."

"Of course, love."

Raph gives Ashes a quick peck on the cheek. "Love you too. I'll be back as quickly as possible."

Ashes kisses her on the lips. "Be safe. I look forward to seeing you again."

Raph blushes and kisses them back. “You stay safe too. I mean. You’ve got my wards. But you know what I mean.”

"I know."

"Good." Raph leans in, kisses Ashes again, and then backs off. "Okay, if I start I'm not going to go, and I do actually need to get this job done, so- yeah." She waves. "See you soon!"

Ashes watches her go, trying to convince themself that she really will come back. They wait for a long moment as she passes out of sight, then turn back into the cave. The rest of their Hoard is waiting for them.

**Author's Note:**

> Ffenics - Phoenix


End file.
